Rotary blade carton riddler

ABSTRACT

A carton riddler is described in which the cartons are cut across three sides, top and bottom, forming articulated end flaps attached to the fourth side. The end flaps are cammed &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;open&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; and the product is dumped into a collection hopper. The carton is subsequently flattened and creased in such a way as to maintain the carton in flattened condition.

United States Patent Harlan et al.

[ ROTARY BLADE CARTON RIDDLER [451 Sept. 12, 1972 1,376,798 5/1921Courtney ..2l4/305 2,353,736 7/1944 Frank ..2l4/3l 1' 3,545,371 12/1970Reist ..l/l76 Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza AssistantExaminer-Lawrence J. Oresky AttorneyJohn V. German and Richard C. Witte7] ABSTRACT A carton riddler is described in which the cartons are cutacross three sides, top and bottom, forming articulated end flapsattached to the fourth side. The end UaSa Cl. fl p e ca med open and theproduct is dumped [51] Int. Cl ..B65g 65/00 i a collection hopper Thecanon is Subsequently 0f flattened and creased in uch a way as tomaintain the carton in flattened condition. [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 3,022,912 2/1962 Vincent..214/305 w 4o 93 8 d 19 IO l 1 5' 33 6 H ,93 l9 7 9o 43 it 2 A lew I842 il 1 o 94T an PATENTED EP Z m2 3.690.484 sum 1 or 3 Q5 0 Fl LnINVENTORS Warren H. Harlan Albert J. Spueth TORNEY PIA TENTH] 12 7 3 690 .484

sum 2 [1F 3 INVENTORS Warren H. Ha n Y Albert J. Sp e h ORNEYPATENTEDsEP 12 m2 3 6 90 .484

saw a or a MA 42- E m: w

mmg ml k INVENTORS Warren H. Harlan Alberi J. Spoefh ATTORNEY ROTARYBLADE CARTON RIDDLER FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to acarton riddler and, more particularly, to a carton riddler which opens,empties and flattens cartons containing granular products.

A carton riddler is an apparatus for processing product-containingcartons in order to separate the product from the package. This is donefor many different reasons; for example, to reclaim the product, to sellthe package as scrap, to ease the burden of disposing of theproduct-containing carton or, possibly, to collect raw materialsso-packaged for subsequent manufacturing operations. Generally speaking,however, by far the greatest use of riddlers is for reclaiming productcontained in cartons damaged during manufacture or shipment.

To date the commercially available equipment to perform the riddlingfunction has been unsatisfactory in performance. These use rotary knivesor band saws to cut the cartons in half and the cut halves are placed ina tumble drum to separate product and carton. The forms of equipment arelarge, expensive and do not reduce the scrap carton volume.

The patent art discloses apparatus (such as those shown in Pinkham etal., U.S. Pat. No. 3,386,320, issued June 4, 1968; Grahn et al., U.S.Pat. No. 3,263,843, issued Aug. 2, 1966, and Kluytenaar et al., U.S.Pat. No. 3,266,541) which are special purpose devices unsuitable for usein connection with generally free flowing products and/or are subject tosome of the problems described above in connection with the commercialequipment.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention toprovide a carton riddler which will obviate the above problems.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a small,efficient, high speed carton riddler which opens, empties and flattenscartons.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a small,efficient, high speed, dust controlled carton riddler which opens,empties and flattens cartons containing powdery or granular products.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide acarton riddler which flattens the cartons and places them in such aconformation as to resist the inherent tendency of the cartonboard tospring open.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one aspect of the presentinvention there is provided a riddling apparatus for removal of productfrom parallepipedal cartons. The apparatus has a slitting stationincluding means to cut through both side panels and one face panel ofthe carton adjacent both closures, thus defining end flaps hinged to theuncut face panel. A product dumping station is provided for supportingthe cut carton and for rotating the end flaps into open positionspermitting egress of the product. The apparatus also includes a cartoncrushing means for reducing the bulk of the empty carton.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS While the specification concludes withclaims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subjectwhich is regarded as the present invention, it is believed that theinvention will be better understood from the following description takenin connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly schematic forsimplicity of presentation, of the carton riddling apparatus of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the flap plowrails and support and back-up rails of the apparatus of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view of the crushingrolls and carton flattening devices of FIG. 1, with the separation ofthe shafts thereof exaggerated for clarity.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, theapparatus of the present invention generally comprises carton infeedstation 10, slitting station 20, product dumping station 30, cartonflattening means 40, carton crushing means 50, product collection means60 and dust collection means 70. FIG. 1 shows the apparatus insimplified form and does not include many of the structural or drivecomponents inasmuch as these do not constitute a part of the presentinvention and are details of which can be readily provided by designersof ordinary skill in the art. Moreover, although cartons are shown invarious stages of the riddling operation some of the cartons which wouldalso be present in the machine have not been shown. These were omittedsince the same would have obscured important parts of the equipment.

The product collection means 60 is shown schematically as a hopper 62adapted to funnel the product removed from cartons to a pipe 64. Thepipe 64 can lead to a collection drum, a belt conveyor, an air conveyingsystem, or any other convenient device to collect the product forsubsequent use or disposal. If desired, an incline screen can be placedacross the interior of the hopper 62, to separate foreign material (suchas torn pieces of cartonboard) from the product.

The product collection means 60 is capped by a table 12 comprising agrated section 14 (underlying areas adjacent the product dumping station30 into which it could be expected that product emanating from cartonsbeing processed could fall) and an infeed slide section 16, shown inFIG. 1 as a smooth dead plate formed from polished metal. The gratinghas a section removed directly underneath the product dumping station 30so that the lower end flap can be rotated to an open position, asdescribed hereinafter. The grated section 14 can be a close mesh typefloor grating, many types of which are commercially available.Preferably the grating is made removable in order to permit access tothe hopper 62 interior when necessary. Alternatively, the infeed slidesection 16 can be made of a multiplicity of polished metal rodslaterally spaced from one another and extending in the direction inwhich the cartons will slide in use. Such construction would prevent thebuild-up of any product in the infeed station 10 since such productwould fall between the rods into the hopper 62 and increases thepotential work area if supplemental hand riddling is contemplated.

As described, the infeed station is of the manual type, wherein anoperator places the cartons on the infeed slide section 16 and pushesthem inwardly during operation. It will be apparent, however, that suchoperations could readily be mechanized by using appropriate conveyingand infeed apparatus. The illustrated manually operated carton infeedstation comprises, in addition to the infeed slide section 16 of table12, stationary guide rail 17 and adjustable guide rails 18, each ofwhich extend in the direction in which cartons are fed to the apparatus.The inner end of stationary guide rail 17 is spaced outwardly from theconveying means 80 by a distance greater than the face-to-face dimensionof the cartons being riddled by the machine so that upon contacting theconveying means 80, the innermost carton can be fed to the slittingstation in a direction transverse the columnar alignment of the cartonsat the infeed station 10. The-adjustable guide rails 18 are shownmounted on a pair of spaced, similarly constructed scissor-type supports19 which can be suitably be locked in any preset position desired, so asto place the guide rails 18 in the correct lateral location for helpingto lead the cartons into the machine. Thus, the infeed station can beadapted to accept a variety of carton sizes.

The conveying means 80 comprises a drive roll 82 and an idler roll 84over which an endless conveyor belt 86 is trained, moving in thedirection of arrow d shown thereon in FIG. 1. If desired, a rigid,adjustable back-up plate can be provided between the rolls 82 and 84 toprevent the outer run of the belt 86 from flexing inwardly when a cartonis pressed against it. Although not critical, a belt speed ofapproximately 50 feet per minute has proven satisfactory. The belt 86can be provided, on its outer surface, with spaced protuberances orcleats to engage the upstream (right-hand, as shown) side panel of theinnermost carton at the infeed station II). The type shown in FIG. 1,however, is a grip-top type of belt, the outer surface of which iscomprised of a material which, in conjunction with cartonboard, has acoefficient of friction sufficiently high to assure the movement of thecartons toward the slitting station 20 in the normal course ofoperation. One belt which has been found to be well suited for this useis the 3-Ply- Amber Claw Top belt, manufactured and sold by Ton- TexCorporation of Grand Rapids, Mich. Many other satisfactory beltmaterials of this type are also available, such as, for example, thosewhich have been in common use in constructing inclined materials handling conveyors.

Spaced outwardly from the conveyor belt 86 by a distance approximatelyequal to the face-to-face dimension of the cartons are a pair of guiderails 88 which extend from a point in general alignment with stationaryrail 17 to the carton flattening means 40. The guide rails 88 areparallel with the outer run of conveyor belt 86 and serve to lead thecartons through the slitting station 20 and product dumping station 30.

The slitting station 20 is equipped with a pair of spaced, circularlyshaped, rotating knives 21, similar in many respect to the type of knifeused in meat slicing equipment. Although many different satisfactorydesigns are available, it has been found advantageous to construct theseknives 21 from one-eighth inch thick tool steel, having a diameter ofabout 12 inches. A sharp edge can be produced on one side of each knifeby grinding a chamfer at about 8 with the other side.

For best service, the knives can be hardened and chrome plated.

The knives 21 are mounted, with the sides bearing the sharp edges facingone another, on a vertically extending shaft 22. Shaft 22 is preferablydriven (by means not shown) at a peripheral speed substantially inexcess of the speed of conveyor belt 86 and in a direction such that theouter run of the belt 86 and the portions of the rotating knives 21adjacent thereto are moving in the same direction, as shown in FIG. 1.If a cleated belt 86 is used the rotation of the knives 21 can bereversed without problems. For example, the knives 21 can be driven atabout 333 R.P.M. with completely satisfactory performance. The higherknife 21 speed and the direction of rotation shown assist the conveyorbelt 86 in moving the cartons through the slitting station. Ifversatility is necessary, the vertical position of v the upper knife 21should be made adjustable so that cartons of various sizes can behandled by the riddler. This can be done in many ways, as will berealized by a machine designer, but can be simply accomplished bymounting the upper knive 21 on a hub equipped with a set screw.

The shaft 22 is ofiset outwardly from the adjacent outer surface of belt86 by a distance slightly greater than the radius of the knives 21.Preferably the distance exceeds the radius by an amount in the range offrom about one-sixteenth inch to about one-half inch. If closer thanabout one-sixteenth inch, the end flaps hereinafter described can beeasily torn off and cause problems in operating the riddler. On theother hand, if the distance is greater than about one-half inch, thenthe end flaps of some types of cartons cannot later be satisfactorilycammed out of the way and the riddling will be inefficient. With respectto the relative positions of the shaft 82a of drive roll 82 and theshaft 22 in the direction of the path of travel of the carton being cut,it is preferable that the cuts made by knives 21 by completed prior tothe carton being released from the conveyor 86 and so shaft 22 should beupstream of shaft 82a. In connection with cartons having sizes such asare commonly used in packaging granular laundry detergents, a distancebetween the axes of such shafts of about 4 inches, as measured in thedirection of carton movement, has proved satisfactory when 12 inchknives 21 are used.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the product dumpingstation 30 comprises upper and lower. plow rails 31 and 32,respectively, upper and lower back-up rails 33 and 34, respectively, andupper and lower carton support rails 35 and 36, respectively, none ofwhich support rails are shown in FIG. 1. The upper and lower back-uprails 33 and 34 have outer surfaces 33a, 34a parallel to and inalignment with the outer sur face of the outer run of conveyor belt 86,serving to support the innermost face of the cartons as they progressfrom the slitting station 20 to the carton flattening means 40 andcrushing means 50. The upstream ends 33b, 34b are channel-shaped withthe portions thereof which are at right angles with faces 33a, 34ahaving tongues 33c, 34c projecting therefrom which are arcuately shapedat their distal ends to conform to the adjacent portion of the conveyorbelt 86 on drive roll 82. This construction permits the use of a cleatedbelt 86 by merely cutting slots in the cleats at elevationscorresponding with those of the tongues 33c, 340. The tongues 33c, 34clead the innermost face of the cartons to the surfaces 33a, 34a. Thedownstream portions of the back-up rails 33, 34 are reduced in height,shown by edges 33d, 34d, in order to permit subsequent rotation of thecarton end flaps, as will be more fully understood from subsequentdescription. The top of the upstream end 33b of upper back-up rail 33and the bottom of upstream end 34b of back-up rail 34 can be at anyconvenient elevation so long as they do not interfere with the initialstages of carton end flap rotation, but the edges 33d, 34d should bothbe location at elevations intermediate those of the rotating knives 21.

The upper and lower plow rails 31 and 32 are of cutviform shape and havehorizontally oriented upstream ends 31a, 32a vertically aligned,respectively, with the upper and lower rotating knives 21. Each of theplow rail ends 31a and 32a is sharpened and shaped to conform generallyto the periphery of knives 21, being positioned closely adjacent a saidknive 21 with the innermost edges 31b and 32b spaced outwardly from theouter run of conveyor belt 86 by a distance preferably greater than thespacing of the rotating knives 21 therefrom. Plow rail 31 is twistedabout 80 and extends inwardly and upwardly so that the outer edge 31cbecomes uppermost with the downstream end of plow rail 31 approximatelyvertical and spaced outwardly from the surface 33a of back-up rail 33 byabout the same distance as that separating the rotating knives 21 fromthe conveyor belt 86. The twisting of the plow rail 31 is adapted to camor rotate the upper end flap of the carton to an approximate verticalposition. Plow rail 32 is twisted approximately 135 and extends inwardlyand downwardly so that the outer edge 32c becomes lowermost with thedownstream end of plow rail 32 at an angle of about 45 with thevertical. The twisting of the plow rail 32 is adapted to rotate thelower end flap of the carton to a point beyond its vertical position inorder to assure complete emptying of product from the carton. For thisreason, the downstream portion of outer edge 320 projects inwardlybeyond the surface 340 of overlying back-up rail 34. It will be notedthat lower plow rail 32 is shorter than the other rails comprising theproduct dumping station so that the lower end flap is released, prior toentry of the carton in the carton crushing means, so that it will returnto a generally vertical position. The innermost lower support rail 36bprevents the lower end flap from springing too far back towards itsinitial position on the carton.

The upper and lower carton support rails 35 and 36 each have horizontaledges 35a and 36a aligned with the upper and lower rotating knives 21,respectively, and these are adapted to vertically support the tubularbody of the cut carton as it proceeds through the product dumpingstation. The carton support rails 35 and 36, in combination with theback-up rails 33 and 34 and with the guide rails 88 maintain thehorizontal and vertical attitudes of the carton as it traverses the plowrails 31, 32.

The rails comprising the carton dumping station can be supported in anyconvenient manner, such as by the supports 31d and 32d shown in FIG. 2.Downstream support 31d is welded to both upper plow rail 31 and uppercarton support rail (the upstream end of which is also welded to plowrail 31) and the whole assembly is mounted by means, not shown, to themachine frame. The lower plow rail 31 and lower carton support rails aresimilarly unitized by welding and are cantilevered from the machineframe by supports 32d. The back-up rails can be appropriately supportedfrom the other, inner, side and thus each of the supports avoidsinterference with the cartons being processed. If the machine is to beadapted to handle cartons of varying height, then the elevation of theupper plow rail 31, upper back-up rail 33 and upper carton support rail35 should be adjustable to the same extent as the upper rotating knife21.

If the product is one which occasionally sticks within the carton andwill not flow freely at the product dumping station 30, a thumping meanscan be provided at that location to impact the innermost face panel ofthe carton as an aid in dislodging the product. The thumping means cancomprise a vibrator acting on a back-up rail or, if desired be so simpleas a rotating shaft with a pin extending therethrough, the ends of whichare arranged to contact the carton as the shaft turns.

The carton flattening means 40 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the latterbeing a perspective as viewed from an upstream position. The flatteningmeans 40 comprises a pair of driven shafts 41, 42 rotating in thedirections illustrated, each carrying elements having projectionsthereon adapted to contact the outer face panel of the cartons feedingfrom the product dumping station to the carton crushing means 50. Onshaft 41, the rotating elements comprise four standard sprockets 42affixed by convenient means such as set screws in spaced relation overthe flattened height range of cartons adapted to be acted upon by theriddler. The rotating elements affixed on shaft 42 are a pair of pickers43, each of which has 8 equally spaced, radially extending fingers. Thepickers 43 are spaced from one another by several inches in the centralportion of the flattened height range of the cartons.

The carton crushing means 50 comprises a pair of driven counter-rotatingrolls 51, 52. The roll 51 is constructed of three spaced segments 51a,51b, 51c mounted on a shaft 53, whereas the roll 52 has two segments52a, 52b having a spacer 520 of greater diameter therebetween, all ofwhich are mounted on shaft 54. The spacing between segments 51a and 51baligns with the location of upper picker 43 on shaft 42, and is of adimension slightly exceeding the thickness of such picker. The spacingbetween segments 51b and 510, in effect a groove, similarly aligns withand exceeds the height of lower picker 43 on shaft 42. The spacer 520also aligns with the spacing between roll segments 51b and 51c and canbe constructed from a three-fourth inch thick disc'the periphery ofwhich is chamferred at 30 with each side (60 included angle) and theapex rounded to a final diameter exceeding that of the roll segments52a, 52 b by about 1 inch. As shown in its assembled form, the outwardlyprojecting periphery of the spacer 52c constitutes a projecting ribadapted to be received in the groove between segments 51b and 51c ofroll 51. Each of the roll segments 51a, 51b, 51c, 52a and 52b ispreferably peripherally covered with a tough, resilient, high frictioncoating to assist in pulling cartons through the nip therebetween. Onesatisfactori- 1y performing coating for this service is an epoxycompound ground to a thickness of about three-eights inch and having adurometer of shore A-80. This compound is made of 100 parts by weightduPont Adiprene L-420 (the epoxy) 8.8 parts by weight Moca (a hardener)and parts by weight General Electric RTV-630 (a silicone).

For packages having sizes such as used in packaging detergents (i.e.face-to-face dimensions of from about 1 to about 5 inches) rolls 51, 52having an outside diameter of about 6 inches have proven satisfactory.The shafts 53, 54 are separated by a distance equal to the diameter ofthe rolls 51, 52 so that the same are approximately in line contact. Theshaft 54 of the innermost roll 52 is located inwardly from the plane ofbackup rail surfaces 33a, 3411 by about one third of the diameter of therolls 51, 52, thus being offset by about 2 inches when 6 inch rolls areused. Preferably, the shaft 54 is located slightly upstream of shaft 53,in order to assist in flattening the cartons. For example, a lineconnecting the shaft axes can be at an angle of about [02 with the planeof back-up rail surfaces 33a, 34a. The precise location of the shaft 54in the direction of the cartons path of travel through the slitting anddumping stations and 30 is not critical so long as the cartons areadequately supported until the carton enters the nip between the rolls51, 52.

As will be seen in FIG. 3, the pickers 43 enter the spaces betweensegments 51a, 51b and 510. The distance between shafts 42 and 53 can besuch as to place shaft 42 a small distance, e.g. one-fourth inch, fromthe periphery of roll 51 and the design of the pickers 43 is such thatthe distal ends of the picker fingers miss the shaft 53 by approximatelyone-half inch or so. For example, with a roll 51 diameter of 6 inches, ashaft 53 diameter of 1 inch and a shaft 42 diameter of three-fourthsinch, the center-to-center distance between shafts 53 and 42 can beabout 3-% inches and the outside diameter of the picker 43 can be about5-5 4 inches.

The illustration of FIG. 3 shows the shafts 41 and 42 spaced furtherapartthan they actually are in order to clearly show the rotatingelements thereon. Actually, the peripheries of sprockets 42 and pickers43 overlap to some extent so that, for example, with a shaft 42 andpickers 43 sized as stated above and a shaft 41 of about three-fourthsinch diameter, the center-to-center distance between shafts 42 and 41can be about 3- /4 inches. Using sprockets 42 which are standard for No.80 chain and having nine teeth, the diameter thereof being about 3-%inches, the projections on the pickers 43 and sprockets 42 overlap byabout 1 inch. As shown in FIG. 1, the top sprocket 42 overlies toppicker 43 and the center sprockets 42 lie to either side of bottompicker 43. Although not critical, a separation of onefourth inch betweenadjacent surfaces of these elements has been found satisfactory. Usingthe dimen' sional relationship described above, it has been foundsatisfactory for the rolls S1, 52, the sprockets 42 and the pickers 43to be rotated at a speed of approximately 111 R.P.M.

The shafts 41 and 42 are mounted in fixed relation on supports (notshown) adapted to be simultaneously adjusted in a horizontal arcuatepath centered about the axis of shaft 53, with the axes of shafts 41 and42 and the axis of rotation of the support lying along a straight line.Thus, if cartons having a large face-to-face dimension are beingprocessed, the supports would be swung outwardly and locked in anappropriate position to have the sprockets 42 and pickers 43 act on thecarton. On the other hand, where thin cartons are being run, thesupports would be swung inwardly, closer to the plane of back-up railsurfaces 330, 34a, and locked in the desired position.

It will be recognized, of course, that the elevation of the cartonflattening means 40 and the carton crushing means 50, along with thestructural framework of the equipment in line with the movement of thecartons therethrough, must be such as to permit the carton unobstructedpassage with the lower flap (hereinafter described) cammed into openposition. These are aspects which can be readily accounted for indesigning the machine of the present invention for a specificapplication and therefore are not described in detail herein.

The dust collection means 70, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises a dust hood71 which encloses the back, top and sides of the apparatus and ducts 72,73 which communicate with the interior of dust hood 71 throughappropriate fittings on its back wall. Ducts 72, 73 are connected to anydesirable fan-dust collection system, the cubic feet of air per minutecapacity of which should be sufficient to have air flowing through thefront opening of the hood at a velocity of at least about 100 feet perminute. For example, if such opening has an area of about 20 squarefeet, the capacity of the system should be at least about 2,000 cubicfeet per minute. The dust collection means improves the workingconditions for operators tending the machine and reduces the clean-upwork following use of the riddler.

The riddler of this invention is adapted to handle cartons of manydifferent types, but is particularly well suited for riddling adhesivelysecured seal-end cartons. Such cartons can be generally described asbeing of parallepipedal shape, having a tubular carton body withopposed, alternating pairs of face and side panels, and 91,respectively, as seen in FIG. 1. The face and side panels 90, 91 areattached along lengthwise-extending scores 92 and each is provided withan upper closure 93 and a lower closure 94.

In setting-up to run a particular size of carton, the adjustable guiderails 18 at the carton infeed station 10 are adjusted to assist incolumnarly aligning the cartons with adjacent face panels 90 ofsequential cartons bearing against one another (face-to-face contact),the column extending inwardly toward the conveyor belt 86. Next, theelevation of upper rotating knife 21 is adjusted so as to make the uppercut in the carton at a distance of from about one-eighth inch about 2inches, preferably about one-half inch to about 1 inch, below the uppersurface of closure 93. The lower rotating knife 21 can remain fixed at alike elevation above the surface of the infeed slide section 16. Thenthe guide rails 88 are adjusted so as to be spaced from the outersurface of the outer run of conveyor belt 86 and from the plane ofback-up rail surfaces 33a, 34a by a distance corresponding to the widthof side panels 91. The elevation of upper plow rail 31, upper back-uprail 33 and upper carton support rail 35 should also be adjusted, thisbeing done in conformity with the elevation of upper rotating knife 21,according to the relationships previously described. Then the angularposition of the supports carrying the carton flattening means 40 isadjusted so that the projections on the rotating elements thereof areadapted to contact and move the outer, cut, face panel 90 of the cartontoward and in advance of the inner, uncut, face panel, flattening thetubular carton body 95 (FIG. 1) in parallelogram fashion with alengthwise-extending edge of the cut face panel 90 constituting theleading edge of the carton. This adjustment is best done by trial anderror.

Finally, the space between roll segments 51b and 51c is adjusted so thatthe adjacent end portions thereof, acting in cooperation with theprojecting rib on the roll 52, serve to crease the flattened carton(i.e. that passing through the nip of rolls 51, 52) transversely, acrossthe carton body, as shown at fold 96 in FIG. 1. Once creased in thismanner the resulting carton remains substantially flat, whereas it wouldotherwise have the tendency to spring open again.

Tracing the movement of a carton through the machine, it will berealized that the carton is placed on the outer end of the column at theinfeed station 10 and moved inwardly in a step-by-step manner as thepreceding cartons are removed from the inner end of the column andprocessed. When the carton reaches the conveying means 80, thefrictional force developed between the inner face 90 of the carton andthe conveyor belt 86 moves the carton through the slitting stationwherein two spaced cuts are made in the carton. One cut is adjacent thelower closure 94 of the carton and extends substantially through thewidth of both side panels 91 and across the outer face panel 90, thusdefining a lower end flap 97. The other cut is adjacent the upperclosure 93 and similarly extends substantially through the width of bothside panels 91 and across the outer face panel 90, defining an upper endflap 98.

The conveyor belt 86 moves the carton into the product dumping stationwhere the tubular carton body 95 is supported in back by upper and lowerback-up rails 33, 34, in front by guide rails 88 and on top and bottomby upper and lower carton support rails 35 and 36. As the cartonproceeds into the product dumping station, upper plow rail 31 enters thecarton at the upper cut and cams the upper end flap 98 upwardly, about aline of articulation extending across the upper portion of the innerface panel 90 along a transverse line aligned with the portion of thecut extending through the side panels. Any uncut material of the sidepanels 91 which lies intermediate the upper cut and the line ofarticulation described, tears during the camming operation.Simultaneously, lower plow rail 32 enters the carton at the lower cutand cams the lower end flap 97 downwardly about a line of articulationextending across the lower portion of the inner face panel 90 along atransverse line aligned with the portion of the cut extending throughthe side panels. Here, too, any uncut material of the side panels 91which lies intermediate the lower cut and the line of articulation ofthe lower end flap 97, tears during the camming operation. The rotationof the upper and lower end flaps 97, 98 to open position permits theproduct to flow from the carton, principally through the open portion ofgrated section 14 of table 12, into the hopper 62 and thence into pipe64. If some product sticks to the carton interior the thumping meansacting on the inner face 90 of the carton dislodges it.

Once having been released from the conveyor 86 in the product dumpingstation 30, the carton remains stationary until the next carton issimilarly delivered, the leading side panel thereof pushing the cartondownstream. This process continues with succeeding units pushing thecarton until it moves into contact with the teeth of revolving sprockets42. The sprocket teeth engage with the downstream edge 92 of the outerface panel and cause the said panel to move toward and in advance of theinner (uncut) face panel 90, so that the lengthwise-extending edge isthe leading edge of the carton.

As the downstream movement of the carton continues, the teeth of therevolving sprockets move across the outer face panel 90 and theprojections of picker 43 start similarly acting on the leading edge ofthe carton. In this manner the carton is substantially flattened, withthe leading edge of the carton led into the nip between crushing rolls51, 52. The crushing rolls pull the carton through their nip,simultaneously creasing the same transversely, across the carton body,resulting in a fold 96 which prevents subsequent springing open of thecarton. As the carton moves through the nip, it will be seen from FIG. 1that both upper and lower end flaps 98, 97 are also flattened.

While the carton flattening means 40 has been found effective inadapting the machine to handle a variety of different size cartons, ,itis possible to eliminate the need for the same by sizing and orientingthe rolls 5], 52 in such a manner a manner as to invariably properlylead a specific size of carton into the nip therebetween. It should benoted, however, that regardless of how the carton is introduced to thenip, the edge of the cut face panel should be the leading edge. If it isnot, i.e. if the downstream edge of the uncut face panel 90 was theleading edge, the flat sides of the upper and lower end flaps 98, 97could conceivably prevent entry into the mp.

Many modifications of the above invention may be used and it is notintended to hereby limit it to the particular embodiments shown ordescribed. The terms used in describing the invention are used in theirdescriptive sense and not as terms of limitation.

. What is claimed is:

l. Riddling apparatus for removal of product from parallepipedalcartons, said cartons having a tubular carton body with opposed,alternating, pairs of face and side panels attached alonglengthwise-extending scores and an upper and a lower closure, saidapparatus comprising:

A. A slitting station including slitting means comprising a pair ofvertically spaced, circularly shaped knives rotating in a substantiallyhorizontal plane and adapted to make a cut through both side panels andone face panel of the carton adjacent both upper and lower closures,thereby defining a pair of end flaps articulated to opposite ends of theuncut face panel along transverse lines aligned with the cuts on saidside panels;

B. A product dumping station comprising means for supporting said cutcarton and for outwardly rotating said end flaps about their lines ofarticulation to open positions permitting egress of said product wherebysaid carton is emptied through its lower opening;

C. Carton crushing means for reducing the bulk of said empty carton,said means comprising a pair of counter-rotating rolls have a niptherebetween for receiving said empty carton; and

D. Conveying means for moving the carton through said slitting stationand said dumping station and into said crushing means.

2. The riddling apparatus of claim 1 including a creaser adapted to foldthe flattened carton transversely, across the carton body.

3. The riddling apparatus of claim 2 including carton flattening meansto collapse said tubular carton body subsequent to egress of saidproduct therefrom and before entry of said carton into the nip of saidcrushing means, said carton flattening means being adapted to cause saidface panels to approximate, with a lengthwise-extending edge of the cutface panel projecting outwardly beyond the balance of said carton bodyand thereby constituting a leading edge.

4. The riddling apparatus of claim 3 in which said creaser comprises anoutwardly projecting rib on one roll and an aligned, cooperating grooveon the other roll.

5. The riddling apparatus of claim 4 in which said carton flatteningmeans comprises rotating elements having projections thereon adapted tocontact and move the cut face panel of the tubular carton body towardand in advance of the uncut face panel.

6. The riddling apparatus of claim 5 in which the conveying means is abelt adapted to contact the uncut face panel of said carton.

7. The riddling apparatus of claim 6 in which the conveying belt is ofthe grip-top type and in which the adjacent portions of the rotatingknives are moving in the same general direction as said belt.

8. The riddling apparatus of claim 3 in which thumping means is providedat said product dumping station, said thumping means being adapted toimpact the uncut face panel of said carton to dislodge product withinsaid carton.

9. Riddling apparatus for removal of product from closed parallepipedalcartons, said cartons having a tubular carton body with opposed,alternating pairs of face and side panels attached alonglengthwise-extending scores and an upper and a lower closure, saidapparatus comprising:

A. A carton infeed station for aligning a column of cartons inface-to-face contact;

B. A conveyor belt moving transversely of said column and adapted tocontact a first face panel of the innermost carton of said column andmove said carton through a slitting station;

C. said slitting station comprising a pair of spaced, rotating kniveseach of which is adapted to cut said carton along a line adjacent thecorresponding carton closure, said cuts each extending through both sidepanels and through the second face panel of said carton, defining a pairof end flaps articulated to opposite ends of said first face panel alongtransverse lines aligned with the cuts on said side panels;

D. Upper and lower flap plow rails having their upstream ends inalignment with said knives and being of a curviform shape adapted tooppositely rotate said end flaps about their lines of articulatron toopen positions as said cut carton is moved from the upstream to thedownstream ends of said plows;

E. Guide rails for maintaining the vertical and horizontal attitudes ofsaid carton as it traverses said plow rails;

F. Product collection means for recovery of product flowing from saidcarton as it traverses said plows;

G. Rotating elements adapted to collapse said tubular carton bodysubsequent to egress of said product, said elements having projectionsthereon adapted to contact and move said second face panel of thetubular carton body toward and in advance of the said first face panelwhereby a lengthwise-extending edge of said second face panel is theleading edge of the carton; and

H. A pair of counter-rotating crushing rolls having a nip therebetweenadapted to receive the collapsed carton, one roll having an outwardlyprojecting rib on its periphery and the other roll having an alignedgroove, said rib and said groove being adapted to cooperatively creasethe carton transversely, across the carton body.

10, The riddling apparatus of claim 9 in which a dust control hood andsystem is provided in which the velocity of air flow through open areasthereof is at least about feet per minute.

1. Riddling apparatus for removal of product from parallepipedalcartons, said cartons having a tubular carton body with opposed,alternating, pairs of face and side panels attached alonglengthwise-extending scores and an upper and a lower closure, saidapparatus comprising: A. A slitting station including slitting meanscomprising a pair of vertically spaced, circularly shaped knivesrotating in a substantially horizontal plane and adapted to make a cutthrough both side panels and one face panel of the carton adjacent bothupper and lower closures, thereby defining a pair of end flapsarticulated to opposite ends of the uncut face panel along transverselines aligned with the cuts on said side panels; B. A product dumpingstation comprising means for supporting said cut carton and foroutwardly rotating said end flaps about their lines of articulation toopen positions permitting egress of said product whereby said carton isemptied through its lower opening; C. Carton crushing means for reducingthe bulk of said empty carton, said means comprising a pair ofcounter-rotating rolls have a nip therebetween for receiving said emptycarton; and D. Conveying means for moving the carton through saidslitting station and said dumping station and into said crushing means.2. The riddling apparatus of claim 1 including a creaser adapted to foldthe flattened carton transversely, across the carton body.
 3. Theriddling apparatus of claim 2 including carton flattening means tocollapse said tubular carton body subsequent to egress of said producttherefrom and before entry of saId carton into the nip of said crushingmeans, said carton flattening means being adapted to cause said facepanels to approximate, with a lengthwise-extending edge of the cut facepanel projecting outwardly beyond the balance of said carton body andthereby constituting a leading edge.
 4. The riddling apparatus of claim3 in which said creaser comprises an outwardly projecting rib on oneroll and an aligned, cooperating groove on the other roll.
 5. Theriddling apparatus of claim 4 in which said carton flattening meanscomprises rotating elements having projections thereon adapted tocontact and move the cut face panel of the tubular carton body towardand in advance of the uncut face panel.
 6. The riddling apparatus ofclaim 5 in which the conveying means is a belt adapted to contact theuncut face panel of said carton.
 7. The riddling apparatus of claim 6 inwhich the conveying belt is of the grip-top type and in which theadjacent portions of the rotating knives are moving in the same generaldirection as said belt.
 8. The riddling apparatus of claim 3 in whichthumping means is provided at said product dumping station, saidthumping means being adapted to impact the uncut face panel of saidcarton to dislodge product within said carton.
 9. Riddling apparatus forremoval of product from closed parallepipedal cartons, said cartonshaving a tubular carton body with opposed, alternating pairs of face andside panels attached along lengthwise-extending scores and an upper anda lower closure, said apparatus comprising: A. A carton infeed stationfor aligning a column of cartons in face-to-face contact; B. A conveyorbelt moving transversely of said column and adapted to contact a firstface panel of the innermost carton of said column and move said cartonthrough a slitting station; C. said slitting station comprising a pairof spaced, rotating knives each of which is adapted to cut said cartonalong a line adjacent the corresponding carton closure, said cuts eachextending through both side panels and through the second face panel ofsaid carton, defining a pair of end flaps articulated to opposite endsof said first face panel along transverse lines aligned with the cuts onsaid side panels; D. Upper and lower flap plow rails having theirupstream ends in alignment with said knives and being of a curviformshape adapted to oppositely rotate said end flaps about their lines ofarticulation to open positions as said cut carton is moved from theupstream to the downstream ends of said plows; E. Guide rails formaintaining the vertical and horizontal attitudes of said carton as ittraverses said plow rails; F. Product collection means for recovery ofproduct flowing from said carton as it traverses said plows; G. Rotatingelements adapted to collapse said tubular carton body subsequent toegress of said product, said elements having projections thereon adaptedto contact and move said second face panel of the tubular carton bodytoward and in advance of the said first face panel whereby alengthwise-extending edge of said second face panel is the leading edgeof the carton; and H. A pair of counter-rotating crushing rolls having anip therebetween adapted to receive the collapsed carton, one rollhaving an outwardly projecting rib on its periphery and the other rollhaving an aligned groove, said rib and said groove being adapted tocooperatively crease the carton transversely, across the carton body.10. The riddling apparatus of claim 9 in which a dust control hood andsystem is provided in which the velocity of air flow through open areasthereof is at least about 100 feet per minute.